


From Clay to stone

by Multifandom_damnation



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Episode Tag, Gen, Having Faith, Introspection, Mighty Nein as Family, POV Caduceus Clay, Protective Team, Short & Sweet, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-15
Updated: 2020-02-15
Packaged: 2021-02-28 04:42:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,793
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22727830
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Multifandom_damnation/pseuds/Multifandom_damnation
Summary: Caduceus finds his family frozen in stone, statues on the brink of collapse, and though his heart is heavy with fear and his mind is numb with pain, a beast rises from the jungle with the threat of annihilating all that he holds dear, and despite how scared and how broken he is, Caduceus knows what he must do, even though every nerve in his body is telling him the opposite.He must fight. And he must win.
Relationships: Beauregard & Caduceus Clay & Fjord & Jester Lavorre & Nott & Caleb Widogast & Yasha
Comments: 2
Kudos: 88





	From Clay to stone

**Author's Note:**

> I watched this week's ep live purely for the hope of seeing Caduceus lore, which I was very disappointed of being deprived of, but Matt gave us some pretty good angst instead, so I forgive him. I know this is probably very overdone and so many people are going to write this, but I just couldn't help myself. I just couldn't. This is also my first time writing in the present tense on purpose so I hope I did it alright, I had to go over it 6 or 7 times to figure it out, so I hope I didn't mess it up. I can't believe I have to many CR fix's I'm working on and instead I decided to write a 1500 word fic in a day and a half and post that instead. God, who am I??? I have to much to do. Anyway, I hope you liked it because it's too short for me to find too much fault in, and for what it's worth, I'm proud of it xx Thanks for reading x

The jungle is hard, but once Essek leaves them and they have no other way of getting off the island, Caduceus finally finds the strength he had been lacking and powers on.

Though every fibre of his being is telling him to _run,_ to _get out while he can, he isn't ready,_ he silences the voice in the back of his head and pushes aside his doubts as he makes his way inland with the Mighty Nein behind him, waiting on his every word like he was their magic ball in charge of all the answers. They trust him, and he trusts them, and he has all the faith in the world that they will do everything in their power to get him where he needs to go.

The way forward is treacherous, though Caduceus never expected any less. The Wildmother works in mysterious ways, and doesn't always give the answers you hope for, and unlike the Traveler, she wouldn't dare appear in-person to her followers, but Caduceus is more than content to follow her orders, as vague as they can be. To his knowledge, the Wildmother doesn't choose favourites like the Traveler chose Jester to be his one and only, but if she did, Caduceus hopes it would be Fjord. That would just be so swell.

He learns much about the menagerie as they traverse the unknown and probably dangerous landscape laden with obstacles and natural traps in order to protect and defend itself from danger. Caduceus does what he can to warn the foliage that they mean no harm and to let them through in the sacred name of the Wildmother and her mission, and out of the corner of his eye, he likes to think that he caught sight of Fjord doing much the same thing to a lesser degree, muttering under his breath. 

While the unexpected visit from the Traveler had unnerved him, Caduceus had been glad for the distraction. It gives him time to think, to plan, and by the time they finish breakfast and the Traveler has once again disappeared into the ether. He knows now more than ever that he wants to continue, to see this through. He's actually a little confused when Caleb offers the option to turn back, to go home, but Caduceus wastes no time turning him down. They have a home to return to back in Xhorhas, sure, but his home is back in the Savalirwood, sickened, decaying and empty.

Even if he has no hope in his half-baked plan of succeeding and he is doing all of this for nothing, the Wildmother had graciously confirmed that at least one of his siblings would be there, one way or another, and that alone is enough for him to pick up his feet and continue on his journey. It solidifies his decision to see this through to the bitter end.

It’s been so long since Caduceus has seen them that he’s almost forgotten how much he misses them, how much he misses their touch and their pranks and their laughter and their words. He hadn’t been the best son, the best brother, but they would always be a tight-knit family, and his whole body vibrates with the possibility of seeing them again, so he powers on.

The moss and spores that grow here are interesting, and the moment he sees the bones that bloom from the wax in the trees, he knows without a doubt that they are headed the right direction, much to his friend’s dismay and horror, but it’s funny, how little they don’t know. He asks them not to poke the chrysalis, asks them to leave the things that live alone, but they never could keep their curiosity at bay, even for a moment, and they fill the clearing with the scent of monstrous decay. It’s a smell Caduceus is all too used to, though not to this extent. The red dirt is vibrant, and while Caduceus is sure that it’s a grave, the others can’t help but mess with that too, but he knows by now to just let them do whatever they have to do to get it out of their systems. Everything just moves along much faster when they do.

He isn’t surprised when they’re attacked by translucent white cockroaches that have no business being in a jungle oasis like this but he also doesn't complain because he knows that strange things live here, and he doesn’t hold it against them that they need food to live just like every other creature. They kill them anyway, troublesome as they are. He wishes they didn’t have to, it’s just another setback, but they manage it, and they continue. He needs to continue. If he stays still any longer, he fears he will stay rooted to the spot like an ever-growing tree, like the tree magically placed atop their Xjorhouse as a tribute to the WIldmother, and won’t be able to continue.

Decay follows him wherever he goes- he doesn’t intend for it, of course, but he feels the foliage dying as he passes it, and he doesn’t stop. The Nein doesn’t mention it, so he doesn’t either. They don’t need to know his trepidation, his fear, his regret at taking so long but his worry about what he might find when he finally reaches the menagerie. The Wildmother says that his family will be there, but her answer didn’t portray anything good. We’re they alive? How many? 

Would they even want to see him after all this time?

The menagerie is just as beautiful as Caduceus had imagined it being, with the clear lake glittering under the sunlight and the lush green grass and the statues that line the walkway like frozen sentries. It certainly is an oasis in every sense of the word. He feels his heart flutter in his throat. This is what he was born for, what his whole life has been leading towards, but now that it’s actually here, will he be able to handle it?

Fjord is curious, as he always is, and Caduceus struggles to talk him out of swimming in the lake. Caleb seems easy today, and so he ditto's Fjord's request as he has all day, and even Beau can't understand why the water is so important, so sacred. “This is for the beasts,” he says, and that scares Fjord enough to make him back off, but he still wastes a spell for the hell of it. Caduceus doesn’t mind. There’s no fault in being cautious.

The cave is dark, but Caduceus can see the red and gold veins glittering in the sunlight that filters in from the mouth of the cave, and he makes his way towards it without thought, but before he makes it halfway, he starts to take notice of the animals and the people all carved in the stone, intricate and delicate and so very accurate and realizes that these statues aren’t carved at all. Beau says it first, “These were people, once,” but Caduceus doesn’t hear her, because he’s too busy running towards the taller figures at the far end, firbolgs with faces he could describe with his eyes closed and fearfull expressions that look so wrong on their faces and he feels his heart grow heavier than he ever thought possible.

Constance and Corrin, his mother and his aunt, holding hands as they are frozen in unbelievable stances of fight or flight, their arms held up to defend themselves in their final moments, his aunt with a familiar look of determination on her face but her eyes give away her fear and his mother with the expression of someone who knows their fate is near and has accepted it with regret. Cornelious kneels in an attempt to raise his daughter from where she had fallen to the earth, and Calliope is frozen mid-scream as she attempts to stand. His father looks to be near-tears, and Caduceus feels a great sorrow burrow it’s way deep within his soul. They all look so tired, so worn as if their quest had taken such a toll on them that their very souls were exhausted. Caduceus has never seen his sister so tired. He has no time to mourn.

But he knows he must act.

The Nein looks at him in horror, in sadness, in sympathy, but he grabs those closest to him, Fjord and Caleb, and pulls them away as far and as slow as he can without breaking down. He feels like the world is rising up to swallow him whole, but he bites back his fear because Caduceus can not be scared. He can’t. Not right now. He must be strong.

“These are my people,” he tells the Nein, and even to his own ears, his voice is dull and empty. The trail of decay becomes a wide circle around him as he fights to control his panic, and the lush green grass starts to wilt as the earth dies under his feet. “We must be very careful.”

He barely gets the words out when an almighty roar echoes from the treeline, and Caduceus can feel the way the earth shakes as something large and heavy approaches. The statues shift on their immortal perch with the sound of stone grinding on stone. He looks towards his family- still upright, unbroken. For now. Good.

From the jungle emerges a massive behemoth made of overlapping metal plates and sharp-pointed horns and toxic-looking green smoke billowing from its nostrils, and Caduceus thinks it turns to look directly at him. Jester grabs his arm and says, “We can still save them. Your family. We have spells that can bring them back. But we can’t break the statutes or they’ll die for good.”

Caduceus doesn’t need to be told. This is his quest, the journey the Wildmother sent him on. Though his family is turned to stone and a beast stands before them, he isn’t afraid. No, Caduceus is angry, and he grips his staff tighter. A beetle flies out of the crystal and lands on his shoulder, awaiting a command, sensing his distress.

He has a quest he needs to complete, a trial he needs to finish, a home he needs to save, but right now, with his blood family, the people who had raised and nurtured him in danger, and his chosen family, the family he had found all on his own and who loves him just as much as he loves them, the Mighty Nein beside him, Caduceus will do everything in his power to protect the people he loves, even if it's the end of him. The Wildmother is with him. He holds no fear. He knows without question what he must do.

He must _fight_. 

**Author's Note:**

> Good golly gosh, you guys, I have so many thoughts about Caduceus and I'm not sure if I captured them very well in this fic, but this ep brought up some things that nobody recognized on stream? You know? The trail of decomposing as he walked to the Stones? How quiet he was after he saw his family? How his first thought wasn't "oh no what do I do my family is stone" it was "be careful we need to look after each other"? I don't know, I just hope these things are addressed on stream at some point because I don't know if I did them here. Anyway, thanks for reading x


End file.
